Sharh al-Arbaeen al-Nawawiya lil-Uthaymin
- Author died
- 1421 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Thurayyā lil-Nashr
Sharh al-Arbaeen al-Nawawiya is a contemporary commentary on al-Nawawi’s forty-hadith collection, written by the Saudi scholar Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymin (1347–1421 AH / 1928–2001 CE) . The work provides an analytical and jurisprudential exposition of the individual hadiths compiled in the collection, focusing on linguistic meaning, theological principles, and extracted legal benefits .
Background and Scope
In his introduction, Ibn Uthaymin notes that although the work is titled "the Forty," the original text compiled by al-Nawawi consists of forty-two comprehensive hadiths, in accordance with the Arabic rhetorical custom of rounding numbers . He underscores the importance of students memorizing and studying the collection because, unlike books limited to jurisprudence—such as Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi's Umdat al-Ahkam—al-Nawawi’s compilation brings together hadiths spanning diverse core fields of Islamic teaching, including creed, ritual acts of worship, transactions, and ethics .
Ibn Uthaymin also discusses al-Nawawi’s standing and scholarly legacy, citing the widespread acceptance of works like Riyad al-Salihin and Tahdhib al-Asma' wa-al-Lughat as evidence of his sincerity . Addressing theological points where al-Nawawi engaged in figurative interpretation (ta'wil) of certain divine attributes, Ibn Uthaymin characterizes this as an excusable error arising from ijtihad, asserting that it is submerged within al-Nawawi’s immense contributions, righteousness, and service to Islam .
Methodology
The commentary follows a structured pedagogical approach for each narration:
- Textual and Contextual Analysis: Ibn Uthaymin examines the transmission context of the hadith, its Companions' narrators, and corroborating evidence from the Quran and Sunnah .
- Rhetorical and Grammatical Breakdown: The text is parsed grammatically (i'rab) and rhetorically (balagha), highlighting stylistic devices such as restriction (hasr), ellipsis, and foundational vs. corroborative clauses (ta'sis vs. ta'kid) .
- Linguistic and Conceptual Definitions: He defines essential vocabulary from lexical and legal perspectives, distinguishing customary habits (‘adat) from acts of devotion (‘ibadat) .
- Extracted Benefits (Fawa'id): Each hadith concludes with an enumerated list of deduced legal rules, theological deductions, legal maxims, and practical conduct points .
Reception
The work is widely utilized as a standard contemporary commentary on the collection. Later scholars and commentators, including Abd al-Muhsin al-Abbad in his commentary Fath al-Qawi al-Matin, drew upon Ibn Uthaymin's explanations alongside classical commentaries such as those of al-Nawawi, Ibn Daqiq al-'Id, and Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali .
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